Mr. cool fashion designer Tom Ford sold a Lucio Fontana's sculpture Concetto Spaziale (which Ford is at pains to point out represents a vagina) for $1m, at Freeman's auction last Nov. 7.
Lucio FONTANA (1899-1968)Concetto Spaziale, 1965
Signature incised lower right
Aluminum with laceration, 243.2x96.5cm
Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium US$1,000,000 (Freeman's, Philadelphia PA., November 7th 2010, Lot 362)
Estimate US$500,000-800,000
Concetto Spaziale is an elegant and important example of the artist's radical, avant-garde 'experiments' that challenged the paradigm of Western easel painting.
A pioneer of the Spatialism movement, Fontana rejected the traditional, representational surface of canvas in pursuit of a more transcendent expression that would 'begin the development of an art based on the unity of time and space’.
Beginning in 1949 then, Fontana first cut and punctured the surfaces of his canvases. In so doing he quite literally ripped apart the historically traditional surface of representational art. During the 1950s he experimented further with the physicality of surface by heavily applying paint, ceramic shards, paste and other thick physical elements. In 1958, in a moment of frustration over having overly embellished and belabored his paintings, he slashed a picture and realized that in this single gesture, he could achieve the unity of object, action and space all at once.
The present picture then, created in 1965, is an example of the grand pictures which best embody this powerful, distilled aesthetic for which Fontana is celebrated. The luminous brushed aluminum surface contrasts sharply with the jagged, deep central gash with its many puckers and sharp edges evoking the unmistakably violent and scintillating action of the artist. At the same time, the gently imperfect outline of an oval around this gash suggests a more gentle action and tentative gesture by the artist, a memory of a very different action. These contrasts, coupled with the grand scale declare its objectness, commanding a forceful and awesome presence.
A pioneer of the Spatialism movement, Fontana rejected the traditional, representational surface of canvas in pursuit of a more transcendent expression that would 'begin the development of an art based on the unity of time and space’.
Beginning in 1949 then, Fontana first cut and punctured the surfaces of his canvases. In so doing he quite literally ripped apart the historically traditional surface of representational art. During the 1950s he experimented further with the physicality of surface by heavily applying paint, ceramic shards, paste and other thick physical elements. In 1958, in a moment of frustration over having overly embellished and belabored his paintings, he slashed a picture and realized that in this single gesture, he could achieve the unity of object, action and space all at once.
The present picture then, created in 1965, is an example of the grand pictures which best embody this powerful, distilled aesthetic for which Fontana is celebrated. The luminous brushed aluminum surface contrasts sharply with the jagged, deep central gash with its many puckers and sharp edges evoking the unmistakably violent and scintillating action of the artist. At the same time, the gently imperfect outline of an oval around this gash suggests a more gentle action and tentative gesture by the artist, a memory of a very different action. These contrasts, coupled with the grand scale declare its objectness, commanding a forceful and awesome presence.
Provenance Private Collection, NY (Tom Ford)
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